Uba Sani tells Kaduna opposition to campaign door to door, not on social media

Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has told opposition parties to take their campaigns to the streets and meeting halls, rather than spending their time responding to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) online.

He said this in an interview with TVC, a Lagos-based television station, on Sunday night, according to Daily Trust, Leadership and The Nation.

"If you are campaigning to win elections, you have to go out and meet with the people," the governor said.

Sani said the only rival party he has seen holding town hall meetings is the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). He said the same could not be said of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the New Democratic Party (NDC), which he accused of having no visible campaign plan.

"You can't run a campaign by reacting to what another party is doing. Go and do your own campaign," he advised.

The governor also alleged that the opposition has been using artificial intelligence and edited pictures on social media to attack the APC. He did not name any party or person in connection with the claim.

What Sani says Kaduna has gained

Sani said the APC is the only party actively engaging voters, and that it is not bothered whether the opposition unites or not.

He recalled that the APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatada, had said the North would give President Bola Tinubu 70 per cent of its votes, and promised Kaduna would do better. Sani said letting any candidate score up to 25 per cent in the state would count as a failure for the ruling party.

To make his case, the governor listed federal projects in Kaduna. He said ₦178bn has been released for the 123km Kaduna–Birnin Gwari road, abandoned for more than 40 years, and thanked the President for work on the Zaria–Soba–Kambuwa road.

He said $865m has been approved for a proposed Kaduna metropolitan light rail, with the contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, mobilised with $300m. The sources did not give an exchange rate for the dollar figures.

Sani also said the Ahmadu Bello Stadium has been handed to the state, which plans to rebuild it as a 33,000-seat FIFA-standard ground.

On education, he said Kaduna now hosts four federal universities, including the upgraded Federal University of Education, Zaria, and the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia. He listed a proposed Shehu Musa Yar'adua University of Petroleum Studies and the conversion of Kaduna Polytechnic to a Federal University of Technology.

According to him, the way for residents to show appreciation is to vote massively for Tinubu.

What happens next

The governor's remarks signal that Kaduna will be a key battleground, with the APC setting itself a high vote target. Opposition parties have not yet responded to his claims in the reports reviewed.